Luxury is..

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..when I can be alone on my couch, reading.

What is your luxury?

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Tulisan Singkat Menjelang Ulang Tahun Oding

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Oding teman saya, sebentar lagi ulang tahun. Tepatnya besok, tepat di Hari Kartini. Sebagai tribute untuk Oding, karena sesama Taurus, saya mau menulis tentang Hari Kartini. Bukan tentang Oding. Karena saya sudah kenal dengan Oding, tapi belum kenal dengan Kartini.

Yang saya tau, Kartini menulis buku. Oops, bukan. Ia menulis surat-surat. Surat-surat kepada teman-teman Belandanya, yang kemudian dikumpulkan orang menjadi sebuah buku.

Kartini mengajar di rumahnya, dan menulis surat-surat yang isinya mendambakan persamaan perlakuan antara pria dan wanita. Karena pada zaman itu, di lingkungannya, wanita dipingit, dan rakyat kasta bawah tidak boleh sekolah tinggi.

Terlepas dari masalah berarti atau tidaknya Kartini buat saya, yang mana jawabannya adalah tidak, sore tadi peringatan Hari Kartini diperingati juga oleh kaum waria, saya lihat di televisi. Apa hubungannya ya? Maksud saya, apa hubungannya dengan kewariaan mereka?

Karena sama-sama memperjuangkan persamaan perlakuan barangkali. Atau karena para waria itu merasa diri wanita, lalu kepingin ikut berkebaya.

Nah ini juga.

Apa hubungannya berkebaya di Hari Kartini dengan makna Hari Kartini ya? Bukankah malah bertolak belakang dengan jeritan hati Kartini yang meminta dilepaskan semua belenggu? Bukankah kebaya membelenggu gerak wanita dari ujung kaki hingga ujung rambut? Menjadikannya boneka seksi penuh lekuk molek namun tak kuasa berlari dan bergerak bebas? Apalagi membela diri!

Kartini, mungkin ibu harus mencantumkan pula dalam surat-surat ibu, bahwa wanita semestinya dibebaskan juga dari belenggu kebaya. Agar peringatan hari lahir ibu, yang seyogyanya menjadi perayaan kebebasan wanita mengenyam pendidikan, tidak dihiasi dengan kontes di mana wanita berjalan terserimpet-serimpet dengan kepala pening karena belenggu yang dipasangnya sendiri dengan sukarela.

Ah, mungkin ini hanya karena saya sentimen dengan kebaya dan sanggulnya yang menyakitkan kepala. Kenyataannya toh banyak yang gemar memasang belenggu ini demi sebuah gambaran diri wanita rekaannya sendiri, dan mereka bahagia.

Kembali ke para waria tadi. Jika mereka hidup dan muncul pada jaman Kartini, dan tinggal di lingkungan beliau, apakah Kartini akan juga membela hak mereka dalam surat-suratnya? Apakah mereka ikut terpikir ketika ia menyebut "kaumku" atau "kaum wanita"? Hanya sekedar ingin tahu yang tak penting.

Walaupun Kartini tidak mengesankan saya dibanding Dewi Sartika dan Cut Nyak Dien, tapi Oding adalah teman saya. Dan untuk beliau saya persembahkan tulisan ini.

Selamat ulang tahun, Oding.
Hajatan "Turning Thirties" kita belum kesampaian ya?

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Wed, 19th April 2006

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Mal-mal (yg kelihatannya) Kumuh tapi Asoy

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Mal Cilandak
Setiap kali saya menyebutkan nama mal ini, teman-teman saya selalu bereaksi,"Di mana tuh?" Hehehe... Padahal sudah jelas-jelas namanya menggambarkan lokasinya, Cilandak. Cilandak Mal.

Terletak di kawasan Cilandak KKO, mal yang sama sekali tidak gemerlap ini adalah salah satu mal favorit saya. Bukan untuk bersenang-senang tentu saja, tapi untuk membeli berbagai keperluan. Semua yang saya butuhkan ada di mal ini, semua dengan harga sangat masuk akal, ongkos transport murah karena angkot yang lewat di depan rumah akan menurunkan saya tepat di depan mal, kualitas produk masuk akal.

Toko buku, optik, toko perkakas, toko alat rumah tangga, supermarket, restoran fast food dan 'slow' food, pedagang furnitur, pedagang baju muslim dengan koleksi cuantik-cantik. Restoran Italia yang lezat tapi cukup murah (yang gak terlalu enak justru pizzanya, hihihi, gemana seh...).

D'Best Fatmawati
Favorit saya adalah supermarketnya. Luengkaaaap! Bahan makanan import aneh-aneh, bahan kue yang biasanya cuma ada di toko khusus, sayuran yang cuma ada di pasar tradisional, umumnya selalu tersedia. Di depannya ada tukang bikin kunci, Dunkin Donut yang PW (posisi wuenak) banget, Baskin & Robin's, dan indulging items lainnya. Di atas ada department store yang juga lengkap.

Suatu hari saya perlu bikin kue barbie pake barbie beneran, semua yang saya butuhin dapet semua di satu tempat ini. Amazed juga, karena sebelumnya mikir di sini paling cuma dapet barbienya, terus harus ke TBK untuk dapetin bahan lain, dsb. Ternyata satu kunjungan cukup :)

Koperasi deket rumah
Inilah mal kecilnya penduduk Pasar Minggu. Namanya Koperasi Sejati Mulya. Koperasinya lengkap, ibaratnya pasar tradisional kecil yang dikasih AC dan terima debit card. Pokoknya kalo males ngubek pasar tradisional tapi ogah repot ke supermarket, ke sinilah daku menuju. Dijamin kulkas terisi lagi sama sayuran, buah, bumbu segar, tempe, tahu, telur, daging-dagingan, kopi, gula dan supply standard lainnya. Plus ada counter makanan yang jual semua jenis makanan, mulai dari lauk-pauk, camilan, sampe black forest. Makanan titipan para anggota koperasi ini enak-enak dan super duper murah. Favorit saya: asinan betawi bungkus gede. Enam ribu perak seporsi besar. Udah pernah saya bawa nih ke kumpulan temen-temen tukang makan, semua merek melek keenakan :)

Di lantai 2, ada salon muslimah yang ngelayanin mulai dari keramas sampe body wrapping, warnet nyaman (4000 perak sejam, cepet, ACnya dingin, partisinya warna pink), toko buku Islam dan toko busana muslim. Walaupun toko busana muslimnya cenderung kayak toko grosir, jadi koleksinya gak secantik di mal Cilandak dan sefancy mal-mal pada umumnya, tapi sangat-sangat memadai untuk beli keperluan kudungan sehari-hari. Koperasi ini juga nempel sama Bank BCA dan ATMnya. Sementara di sekelilingnya ada apotik, restoran, salon umum, tukang majalah, wartel, dll. Pusat kehidupan banget kan?

Di semua tempat ini jangan harap bisa liat mahluk-mahluk cantik dan wangi :) These are places to put us into perspective of what shopping is all about.

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On the Radio

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Yesterday was a fun day. We had a two hour cooking class live show on Cosmo FM, we cooked dim sum :) Yuli won the doorprize (Christian Dior's products), while the rest got goody bags in which I found a pretty Cosmo notebook I sooo liked :)

It was really a two-hour-non-stop of fun! We made the dim sum together with the announcers (Irina & Denny), wrapping and shaping Hakau Udang and Shumay. Denny was very proud of his expertise of shaping 'pastel' that he learnt from his mom when he's a child, he shaped the Hakau into classic 'pastel' shape :) Irina was not bad, but Denny kept mocking her by mentioning how beautiful his 'pastel' shape was over and over again.

The dim sum was so good as always. We also made Thailand Sweet Cassava, a.k.a. Singkong Manis a la Thailand for dessert. What a perfect sweet way to end the show.

Now back to my computer, finishing a 9 pages law document to send to my client this afternoon. Tomorrow I'll be working on revisions for the guideline book we worked earlier, and hopefully I can finish it as fast as I finished the sweet cassava last night.

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The poorest people in the world are the people who always feel poor

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I have a friend that I met about two years ago. She's a kind-hearted, hard working woman (a sanguine-choleric, fyi). She hates when I'm moody and lose spirit because she never lose her enthusiasm and clearly can't afford having a 'blah' friend around every now and then. That means me when I'm bored :). I respect her and all, one time she made a decision for me that I'm really now thankful for.

Recently, I realize she keeps saying things like these:

"It's really sad to be poor, people treat us like dirt." or
"Gosh, when will I get rich? Then I can buy anything I want...." or
"It's really nice to be rich, blablabla...."

Now I remember, one time she told me a story about when her boss ordered her to pickup a birthday cake worth 2 million Rupiahs at one of the fanciest Bakery in Jakarta, and she met her neighbour there as the shopkeeper. She told me:
"Whoa, it felt really great being the one who's giving the money."

Well, I never thought more than just listening to the story back then.

She just made another "it's sad to be poor" blurt-out again yesterday. What the hell is that all about?

Sad thing is, she is definitely not poor or miserable at all, mister! She's an enterpreneur whose net income is around 10 millions rupiahs a month, she has a great caring loving family, she's a leader if not a highly influencing member in many organizations, she's quite well-known in town--although not a celebrity, but many coverages in media agree with her, cut the story short, she has a wonderful life! Why she now recently plays the "it's sad to be poor" song, is way beyond me.

I really want to tell her what I'm thinking, but can't think of any ways I could go about it without offending her or anything. I mean, how?

Well, I always could start with "Honey, why do you keep saying that?" or

"Hey lady, count your blessings, open your eyes, you have more than anything in this world." or

"Stop that annoying whining, you big dumbass. Millions of people have nothing but a piece of cloth to cover their bodies. Millions of people suffer from diseases, homeless, lack of education, child abuse, women trafficking, I could go on all day listing horrible things suffered by 75% of people in the world. And here and now, you're blurting that craps out of your mouth while sipping a glass of nice fruit cocktail your wonderful husband just fixed up for you, surrounded by friends who love you, with plenty of money in your bank account while more money pouring in!"

Neah, it doesn't feel right. I mean, who am I? Dr. Feel Good?

It's the same thing when I got into fighting with my older sister, because everytime she talked, she turned every topic into "money" talks.

"Hey, I heard you're making a record with your choir?"
"Ow, yeah, isn't it exciting? We are not just making a record you know, but we also perform in tv shows, theatre plays and other gigs too!"
"Well then, promote yourself! Be the producer or manager, that way you could have a lot of money!"

or
"Hey, I heard you're really into baking now?"
"Yeah, I was always into it since little girl, remember? Now, I'm taking it into the next level, I guess."
"That's good! Because you know, here, a chef makes huge salary!"

I was just ready to puke big time, if only I had a disposal bag around.

I think, I think, people like them just need to be eliminated from this good earth. Yeah, I mean killed, dead, six feet deep, bye-bye.
Go ahead judge me. I don't hate any of them, nothing personal, I'm just trying to make the world a better place (by killing them. Ha-ha.).

Man, I sound bitter and cranky lately. I know I don't have to understand them, I should just accept them for what they are. And I also should not let this kind of thing bother me. But you know what? It does. It does bother me.

Maybe someday I could be wiser and just smile at them and say,"...." nothing. Hah!

[I'm a bad person. Am I a bad person? I'm a bad person.]

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I Love You Good Bye

I'm too upset to write what I actually planned to write.

I need to be in another place, where people don't spread their fear to other people. Where people realize that life is too abundance to be worried. Where people understand that reflecting their fear by minding other people's choices is just making it worst.

Even when we die, the trees will still grow fruits. the sea will still be there. Yet millions of people starving. While the earth is providing us with everything we need. We waste so many blesses by worrying.

Life is too rich to be worried. Too short to waste time by spreading fear. Too adventurous to skip the surprises by over-analyzing.

Or maybe I hangout in a wrong circle.

I'm sorry my friends, I just need to go for awhile. The so-called "caring" you implied just doesn't work on me. I'm hurt, lose respect, and disappointed. Maybe someday you will find other objects to reflect your own fear by 'caring' for them.

Or maybe someday I will find that you're totally right and I'm totally wrong. What would you say then? The infamous "I'VE TOLD YOU"?

I bid you farewell.
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Teman dari Jauh

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Barengan pemilik Tambatan Hidup

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